Vehicles may employ powertrain systems that generate propulsion power from an internal combustion engine (engine) in conjunction with a non-combustion motor such as a high-voltage electric motor/generator. The high-voltage electric motor/generator(s) draw electric power from an on-vehicle high-voltage electric energy storage device, e.g., a high-voltage battery, via a high-voltage electric power circuit that includes an inverter. An inverter is a device that converts a DC input voltage to an AC output voltage employing a plurality of semiconductor switches arranged in pairs. The paired semiconductor switches are controlled according to an inverter switch control mode. The AC output voltage may be supplied to an electric machine such as a high-voltage electric motor/generator to accomplish work, wherein the work may include generating torque in a torque mode or generating electric power in a reactive mode. The semiconductor switches may be IGBTs, FETs or other suitable devices. Switching techniques for controlling the semiconductor switches include pulsewidth-modulation (PWM) methods, such as a triangular comparison PWM, a space vector (SV) PWM method (SV-PWM), and a discontinuous PWM (D-PWM) method. The different switching techniques yield different results in terms of control, power loss, noise, harmonic content and other parameters. Power loss affects system efficiency and system thermal generation.